Fade
by Larxzinold
Summary: Earth has opened up to other worlds...and the Organization is the first to discover this. When a pair are sent on an assignment, a simple slip-up results in a pair of humans seeing the Nobodies as real, and jeopardizes the Organization. WARNING; Alot of people don't like OCs and whatever, and they're main characters. No pairings though. ALSO MAJOR SPOILERS FOR KH 3D.
1. Prologue

**Author's Note: As I said in the description of this fanfic, continuing to read this will give **_**major**_** spoilers. Especially into Dream Drop Distance; the newest revision (and first version I posted) has been edited to flow with new information given in DDD. So if you don't want to be spoiled, I suggest you wait until you get and complete the game, then come back and read. Kay? :3**

**Also, I don't own KH. If I did, it wouldn't be as good as it is…**

A heaviness hung in the air Where Nothing Gathers, the room better known as the Round Room of the Castle That Never Was. The Superior, Number I, had called the other members together with talk of apparent urgent news. Silence surrounded the black-cloaked individuals, none of them having the emotions to feel excited or anything comparable.

"My friends," the Superior finally began, "I have news. A new world has appeared."

No reaction came from most of those present; the only one that appeared to be slightly interested was their newest member, Number XIII. The others had heard such news time and again, and they didn't know why it was such a big deal this time.

Nevertheless, Number I continued, "This world is apparently called Earth. Normally, I am aware that such a discovery is not worth calling a meeting for. However, Earth, we have found, is vastly different from any other worlds we have discovered." At this, the Superior turned to the cloaked man with the second-highest throne, "Number VII, if you would relay our findings to the other members."

"Yes, sir," he cleared his throat to prepare for the explanation, "The Superior and I personally went to examine this world prior to sending the rest of you there. There is vast darkness in the hearts of the inhabitants, lurking in places that the inhabitants, humans, apparently cannot see. It does seem that none of the darkness has been able to form into Heartless, much less consume the hearts of said humans yet. However, there is something far more interesting than that."

The Diviner paused there to allow those present to take in the information, watching as a few of the members shifted in their seats, paying closer attention now.

He continued after a moment, "The inhabitants of Earth are different from what other worlds contain. They have no magical power, nor knowledge that it even exists. Very few are taught basic fighting skills, it seems. Yet, despite this utter lack of knowledge...it appears that some of them know about us."

All heads turned towards Number VII in disbelief, seeming confused, but none saying anything until Number VIII spoke up in protest.

"Wait, _how_ can they know about us? Even the Keybearer doesn't know about us, and if that world _just_ opened up to other ones-"

Saïx cut him off, "Number VIII, your question will be answered if you allow me to finish. Neither the Superior nor I are entirely sure, but in that world, we're known. While we were collecting data, a young female spotted us and approached us, but oddly was not appearing to be suspicious. However, even stranger than that, she spoke as if we were familiar to her, and claimed that our... 'costumes' were very good, and we looked, I quote, 'Just like Xemnas and Saïx.'"

A few baffled whispers echoed throughout the large room, until one spoke up louder to distinguish itself.

"Woah, woah, woah. So they knew who you were, but thought you were…dressing up as _yourselves_? How weird _is_ this world?"

Saïx drew the attention back to him by slightly raising his voice, just for a moment, "A valid point, Number IX, yet one that requires more investigation. That is why we will be doing more reconnaissance missions on said world until further notice."

"Well, at least if they think we're just in some costume, we might be able to move around more. Maybe even talk to some of the people for direct info." Number II, Xigbar, piped up, a smirk crossing his scarred face.

"Yes, that is certainly to our advantage. As long as none of you slip up and demonstrate your abilities in front of the humans, we _should_ be able to continue unnoticed." Saïx nodded to the Freeshooter, and a few of the members seemed pleased by this new development, or at least they were acting it.

"Wait…" a younger voice, that of Number XIII, spoke up, "you said there were no Heartless there, right?"

The point caught the ears of the Nobodies present in the room, all turning their attention back to Saïx for the answer.

"Not yet, Number XIII. However, the darkness in the world is clearly on the verge of taking over; now that the strange barrier of said world has been removed to allow us and other worlds access, it should only be a matter of time before the Heartless spread to that world. With the large size and nearly limitless potential of its many inhabitants, it is quite possible that, once the Heartless reach it, that world alone could complete our precious Kingdom Hearts."


	2. Chapter I

**AN: Bracing myself for hate for using an OC/self-insert. 8D At least I do it well, and not for pairing reasons…**

"Woah, dude. That's so totally freaky." A young woman reclined in her computer chair, widened blue eyes staring back into the similarly colored ones of her younger friend.

"I _know,_ right? It felt so real! And that weapon-no, the Keyblade! It felt so natural to be able to use it!" the younger blonde's voice squeaked with excitement, leaning towards her friend from her seat on the edge of the redhead's bed.

"Oh, man! It's like, you're some kind of legit Keyblader or something! That's so _cool!_" the elder girl leaned forwards, mimicking her friend, "And like, that was the sign you're getting your 'blade soon!"

"I _wish_! That would be so awesome! …I'd want a light saber first, but I'll take what I can get." the blonde shrugged, smirking lightly.

"Hah, of course you would…" the redhead shook her head, "…They should totally make a game after you. Uh…Kingdom Hearts: Dimension Breaker Lizzy! …Or something!"

The younger girl debated on that for a moment, then nodded, "Yeah, works for me! Especially if it's on the WiiU and not some dumb Playstation system."

Mo, the redhead, shook her head, rolling her eyes back with a laugh as she leaned against the back of her desk chair once more. The two girls were sitting in Mo's room, discussing a strange dream Lizzy had explained she'd had the previous night. It had been incredibly vivid, involving her falling into an ocean, floating down to a stained glass pillar, and progressing through multiple of the pillars with stairs that appeared as she cleared obstacles, eerily similar to the stage Dive into the Heart from one of the girls' favorite game series: Kingdom Hearts. Both were fans of it, Mo's knowledge just a bit more expansive than Lizzy's since she had played the games longer.

"Oh, hey…I think I know why I had that weird dream." Lizzy suddenly realized, leaning her head back to look up at the ceiling as if in deep thought. Mo leaned forwards again curiously, leaning her elbows on her knees.

"I was out shopping with Mom the other day," Lizzy began, "and when we were heading to the car I saw these two Organization XIII cosplayers slinking around near one of the empty stores!"

The statement caught Mo's attention, causing the girl to raise an eyebrow, "Oh? What characters?"

"Xemnas and Saïx." Lizzy stated simply with a nod. Mo seemed to think it over for a moment, but Lizzy continued before the redhead could interject.

"They were really good cosplays too, they looked so much like the actual characters! It was almost scary, not to mention they did wicked voice imitations," Lizzy paused, then, knowing the question that would come next from the older girl, "and yes, they were both actually guys."

Mo's eyes widened, and she suddenly scooted her chair closer to Lizzy, grabbing her friend's shoulders, "No. Way. …Were they cute?"

"Eww, Mo! Control your hormones! Like I would know what you think about them!" Lizzy pushed the redhead away, the desk chair sliding across the floor on its wheels.

Mo couldn't help but laugh before responding, "Well you should 'a called me! I woulda been over there in like a second if you told me there were cosplayers hanging around! You _never_ see that in this town!"

Lizzy rolled her eyes, "The only cell phone I ever get to use is one of my parents, and Mom was using hers when I saw them!"

"Fine," Mo sighed, relinquishing the argument to Lizzy, "Maybe they'll still be hanging around town… Is there a meetup I don't know about, maybe?"

The sudden excitement in Mo's voice made Lizzy hold back a laugh, though she soon let her thoughts wander. Thinking on the subject of the strange cosplayers, she suddenly realized that she had forgotten something while she had been out at the mall.

"Oh hey, Mo! You think we could run to the mall? I forgot something after all that mess with those random cosplayers."

"Oh yeah, sure, no problem. I need to get out of the house anyway," Mo laughed, standing from her chair, "I've been super lazy all day."

Lizzy laughed as Mo walked over to the mirror, hastily pushing her hair back from her face, into a ponytail, then clipping it up further after that to keep it from drawing in more of the summer heat.

"You're so like Demyx, probably why you like him so much." Lizzy remarked, smirking over at the redhead, who returned her gaze with a glare at the mirror.

"Oi, I am _not_. I don't mind actually working, for one! Though anyway, you don't give the poor guy enough credit. He's a _beast_ to fight in any mode but Beginner… Not to mention his skills in 358's multiplayer!"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Lizzy rolled her eyes as Mo finished her preparations, turning to the younger girl and grabbing her purse, which sat nearby her desk.

"Well let's get going, we don't want to be out too late."

Once the two girls were on the way, it felt as if only a few minutes had passed when the duo was walking back down the parking lot, bag in hand with the book Lizzy had wanted to get. They stopped by Mo's car, though just as the redhead went to unlock it, both girls froze at the sound of a familiar voice.

"You _idiot!_ How can you even get lost? We have specific. Routes. " Mo and Lizzy both looked around, trying to find the source of the voice, before Mo laid her eyes on a pair of young adults in black cloaks standing under one of the small trees that failed even to be a decoration for the mall. Tapping Lizzy's shoulder, she pointed at the two familiar faces, lowering her voice.

"Is…that what I think it is, Lizzy…?"

The younger blonde could only nod in response, watching the two cloaked figures argue it out.

"Hey, it's not my fault!" the young man, sporting a brownish-blonde mullet, shrunk back from his female partner, "This place is huge compared to any other worlds we've been to!"

The young woman snapped back at him, fists clenched, "I don't know _why_ I trusted you with directions! You always screw something up!"

"They are _really_ good at that, huh? I wonder if they're with those two I saw yesterday, like a group or something…?" Lizzy whispered to Mo, who nodded, pulling her phone from the case clipped to the side of her purse before returning to Lizzy.

"I _have_ to get pictures, these cosplays are so convincing! Plus that Demyx is so-" Lizzy cut off the redhead from gushing about how cute the supposed cosplayer was, walking over towards them with the older girl in tow.

Both of the blondes looked up when they were suddenly approached, the one appearing to be Larxene stepping back a half-step and appearing to be on her guard, while Demyx just stood there confused. Mo took a breath to speak, but Lizzy cut her off without realizing.

"Wow, a Larxene that actually pulls the look off…" Larxene smirked a little at the younger blonde's statement, feeling rather proud that she was the only one that could 'pull off' her own look.

"Um, don't mean to interrupt or anything…but, c-can I maybe get some pictures of you guys? You look so realistic!" Mo asked, clearly nervous. Larxene and Demyx sent each other a questioning glance, then shrugged.

"Sure, why not? What can a couple photos hurt?" Larxene smirked a little, and Demyx nodded eagerly in agreement.

"Fine with me! Just get my good side." Demyx turned his head with a grin, then laughed, obviously joking.

"Awesome!" Mo nearly squealed, just barely managing to hold it in, "Okay um…let me back up… Okay! Now strike a pose or something cool!"

The two both did as she said, immediately figuring out their own individual poses. The redhead raised the phone as the two froze in place for her to take the picture, and pushed the shutter button, only to be confused when she didn't get the normal sound effect or screen reaction, and raised an eyebrow. While she attempted to figure out what was going on, Lizzy spoke up.

"Oh man, the only thing that'd be better is if you had your weapons! Then you could pose like you were fighting!" she laughed, and Demyx snapped his fingers, grinning and blurting out a response before Larxene could stop him.

"Oh, we do," he jumped back reminiscently of his motions in Kingdom Hearts II, throwing his hand into the air and summoning his sitar into it, then twirling it and stopping in a pose pointing at the camera with a smirk, "see?"

Both of the girls froze, wide-eyed and shocked at what they had just witnessed. Neither of them could form words, and Larxene was the one to speak.

"You total _imbecile_! You just did exactly what Saïx said _not _to do! You completely blew our cover!" she snapped, voice full of sheer malice towards the Nocturne.

"Oh…oh, _shoot_ I did! Um, uh, run away!" Demyx panicked, warping away in a swirl of dark energy. Larxene let out a frustrated growl, smacking her palm to her forehead, and pointed at the two.

"You speak a word of this and I'll personally cut you to pieces!" With that threat, she too warped away from them, leaving the two stunned girls alone to stand there. Both turned their heads slowly to each other before, at the same time, smacking themselves on the cheek.

"Ow!" Both of the girls cried out, then realization hit them, "…S-so that was…real?"

Lizzy nodded at Mo's statement, swallowing hard. Her eyes then travelled to the camera phone in the older girl's hand, and she leaned back a little, more familiar with the particular brand of phone that had confounded the redhead so much, and noticed the way the screen was. She snatched the Smartphone from her friend's hands, eyes widening and nearly dropping the little device when she saw that the device hadn't been on photo mode but had in fact been recording a video.

Lizzy let out a gasp, pressing the button to end the recording and beamed to Mo, "You _amazing_ person! You got that _whole thing_ on tape!"

The redhead closed the space between them, pressing against her friend's shoulder to look at the phone's screen, "No freaking _way,_ let me see! Play it back, hurry!"

Doing as her friend insisted, Lizzy quickly navigated to the stored files and opened the video and opened it. It started the time she hit the button, thinking it was the shutter, and went through Lizzy's exclamation all the way through Larxene's threats, and then to where Lizzy had snatched the camera back from Mo, then ended it. Both of the girls stood there for a moment, staring dumbfounded at the small screen before looking back up to the other.

"We…are gonna make a _killing_ off this tape." Lizzy stated bluntly, her mind already working through the possibilities this tape could bring to the two.

"Woah, woah, back up. Didn't you _hear_ her? If we tell anyone, she'll-" Mo started, only to be cut off by her conniving blonde friend.

"She doesn't have to know! Not like she even realized you taped it, or she woulda smashed your phone! So we're in the clear; it'd take a miracle for them to find us again anyway!" Lizzy protested.

Mo sighed, thinking over it, "I dunno, Lizzy, they _are_ Organization XIII… You never know what they're capable of…"

"Yeah," Lizzy rolled her eyes, grabbing Mo's arm and dragging her towards her car, "and they were also beaten by a 15-year-old kid with an oversized key and his two cartoon character pals. Now come _on,_ let's get back to your place!"

Mo sighed, shaking her head, "Alright, if you say so…I just have a bad feeling…"


	3. Chapter II

**AN: I meant to update yesterday as well…I'll just be honest and say I forgot. But, I'll just upload twice today or something~.**

"You both ought to be turned into Dusks for your incompetence."

The cold voice of Saïx made both Numbers IX and XII cringe, lowering their gaze from the higher-ranked Nobody.

"Saïx, they were just two kids, why would anyone believe them if they did say something about us?" Demyx reasoned, forcing a nervous grin. Saïx responded by rubbing his temples with a gloved hand, shaking his head.

"Demyx, you're not thinking. You mentioned that one of them had a camera. What if they managed to get solid evidence of your blunder?!" Saïx's voice deviated from the normal cold tone they were used to and more into the harsh growl of a beast. Demyx visibly shivered and gritted his teeth, looking away from the Diviner once more.

Saïx continued since neither of the two spoke up, "I will send two members to deal with this. You two return to your quarters until I decide what is to be done with you." The blue-haired Nobody then walked away from them and out of the room, leaving the two to their own devices. The Grey Area fell silent as the tension between the two peaked, Larxene finally looking up from the ground to glare at the Nocturne.

"You…_idiot_! Now we're both gonna get turned into Dusks, or worse! If you could just learn to follow a lousy map we wouldn't be in this mess!"

Demyx glared back at her, though not as strongly, "Me?! If you hadn't been yelling at me those two might have not even seen us!"

Larxene moved like lightning, grabbing Demyx by the collar and breaking his glare, keeping hers so sharp it could cut diamonds, "Says the guy dumb enough to summon his weapon, not to mention in the showiest way possible, in front of two humans!" Three of the Nymph's knives appeared between the clenched fingers of her hand, responding to her urge to kill the blundering Nobody right there.

"W-well you were the one that let them take the pictures in the first place!" Demyx refused to back down so easily, not that Larxene would have let him. The female shoved the sandy-haired male away, only to charge her knives in a blind rage, and send all three of them flying for the Nobody's head. Reflexes kicked in on Demyx's side, and Arpeggio appeared in his hand, which he quickly used to block the knives from hitting him. He jerked the instrument away from his head after the knives dug into the back, and quickly played a chord, sending a jet of water at the enraged blonde. It made contact, blowing her back, but not before the Nymph sent a jolt of electricity through it. The surge connected with Demyx easily, the current zipping through his body and breaking both his focus and his attack, the remaining water crashing to the floor as Larxene made contact with a window. A large crack appeared down the glass where she'd hit, the impact making her wince as she fell back to the ground, soaked. Demyx had dropped his sitar and was mildly shaking due to losing control of his nerves from the electric current. Luckily, two of their comrades walked in at that moment, interrupting them.

"Wow, and I thought _I_ was destructive." Number VIII, Axel, laughed as he entered the Grey Area, followed by Roxas, number XIII. The latter stayed quiet, merely staring wide-eyed at the remnants of the fight. Water soaked a good portion of the floor along with Larxene, plus the large crack in the window caused by Larxene being thrown into it by the water. There was also evidence of a few electrical burns on the couch closest to Demyx from one knife of Larxene's that missed its target.

Demyx finally recovered enough from the literal shock to look up at them and grabbed his sitar before running over to the duo, hiding behind both of them and ducking down.

"Axel! Roxas! She's trying to kill me!" he whined, Axel only shaking his head with a laugh.

"Well he freaking deserves it! He's gone too far this time, we're both gonna be Dusks! Or even worse, I don't know yet!" Larxene snapped, pulling herself up from the ground and glaring at the three, mainly targeting Demyx.

"Hey, both of you, chill out. Roxas and I got assigned to clean up this mess you made on Earth, so if we do an awesome job, Saïx might just forget about that icky punishment." Axel smirked, patting his friend on the shoulder when he mentioned him.

Larxene hesitated, then huffed, looking away from them finally, "Well, you better do better than awesome! I'll come after you if you don't!"

With that threat in place, Larxene warped away, and Demyx let out an exaggerated sigh of relief.

"Whew! You guys really saved my tail there!" he grinned, walking out from behind them and turning to face them once he was in front of them.

"Yeah, well, you need all the help you can get. Saïx is beyond mad, Demyx." Axel snickered a bit, remembering the angered look Saïx had when he told the two about their new mission. It had reminded him of back when they were Somebodies, the same face that Isa used to make whenever Lea pushed the wrong nerve.

"Y-yeah… But hey! That wasn't _totally_ my fault, Larxene basically dragged us into the whole situation!" Demyx spoke defensively, making a wide gesture with his hands as if that would convince the two Nobodies in front of him.

"Chill out, we'll take care of it, Demyx. Two little humans are nothing that me and Axel can't handle. Right, Ax?" the shorter blonde finally spoke up, looking up to the taller redhead.

"Of course! I mean, Saïx said they don't even know basic magic, or fighting skills. This should be a piece of cake!" Axel grinned confidently, nodding to the two blondes before him. Roxas nodded back, seeming pretty sure of their future success.

"Yeah, it should be no problem at all."


	4. Chapter III

**AN: I accidentally posted chapter IV first as III...oops! Sorry for anyone that read that one first! This is the correct chapter III!**

The next day, Mo couldn't shake a gut feeling that something bad was going on. Though the girl did have a feeling it had something to do with the strange dream she'd had, fueled by the encounter with the Nobodies the day before, and it continued to plague her mind. She'd done a lot of thinking that night that had kept her up after midnight, and one question haunted her mind that she was unable to answer.

_Why would they be on Earth…?_ she thought to herself for the twentieth time that morning. She didn't get it; the people of Earth had no special or magical abilities, much less fighting ability for the most part, as far as she knew. They weren't aware of the existence of other worlds, most not believing in them. Most importantly, the number one target of the Organization, Heartless, were not on Earth at all. Given all of those factors, there seemed to be no reason for the Nobodies to have any interest in the blue planet at all…

"…rx? _Oi, Larx!_"

An accented voice coming through Mo's headphones, calling her by her online nickname, snapped her out of her daydream, and her eyes darted to the computer screen, where her friend Anna was giving her a confused, and slightly concerned, look through her webcam.

"H-huh? What happened?"

Anna sighed, "You've been so out of it this morning! And not just like I sometimes am, you're out of it like something bad happened!"

"Oh…uh," Mo shook her head, forcing a smile, "no, no, nothing's wrong! Just had a weird dream is all!"

"Trust me, that kind of spacing is _not_ weird dream spacing. This is definitely something is messing up your mind spacing." Anna insisted, sending Mo a serious look.

Mo sighed, "Trust _me,_ you wouldn't believe me if I told you, Anna." Anna cocked a brow at her, as if that were a dumb statement.

"Seriously, you wou-wait. I can put that on here!" Mo cut herself off, suddenly grabbing her phone and sending the video file to her computer. Anna sat there for a moment, confused, then moved to open the window when Mo suddenly sent her a file through their messaging program.

"What's this?" Anna asked, hesitant, and Mo, grinning, didn't say a word.

When the file finished transferring, Anna opened it, watching through the first part of the video.

"Oh, you found cosplayers? Why wouldn't I believe tha-…" Anna's voice trailed off, her smile fading into a shocked, wide-eyed expression as she watched Demyx summon his sitar exactly as he did in KHII. The British girl looked back at the Skype window, at the redhead awaiting a reaction from her, before she finally gathered her thoughts.

"…_You have got to be f-_"

"I am _so_ not kidding! _Now_ do you get why I'm so freaked out?!" Mo cut her off before the other girl could curse, nearly ready to jump out of her seat.

"How in the world is that-I mean, he really-they really-…._what?!_" Anna was baffled, and Mo couldn't help but laugh.

"I know, I know," Mo shook her head, "I thought the same thing! They're _real,_ man, and they're on _Earth_!"

Anna started to say something, but the sound of Mo's phone, which she had laid back on her desk, drowned out the sound of her voice, and the redhead scrambled to pick it up, setting it on speakerphone as soon as she read Lizzy's name on the caller ID.

"Oh hey, Lizzy, I-" Mo started to greet her friend, but suddenly had to lean away from the phone when Lizzy's voice, higher pitched than usual and frantic, yelled out through the speaker of the phone enough to make Anna's speakers squeal.

"Mo, you gotta run! The Organization is after us!"

Mo leaned back away from the phone, holding it at arm's length, and let out an irritated sigh, not believing her friend to be sincere.

"Um, _ow_! Not cool, dude, that hurt! And you're not gonna trick me with that prank just because I was freaked out yesterday, you know."

She shook her head, only to receive a frightened Lizzy's response through the speakers, "I'm _dead serious,_ Mo! I just got chased for over a mile by Roxas! The _real. Roxas! _ I made it to College Park, so I'm safe as long as all these people are around! But you're home alone, so you need to get out of there!"

Both Anna and Mo noticed the sincerity in her voice that time, and Mo gritted her teeth, trying to think of what to do. She looked to Anna, who seemed just as confused as her, then grabbed for her bag.

"You stay right where you are, I'll be there as fast as I can. Just stay as close to other people as you can, got it?" Mo ordered, forcing her voice to level as she hung up the phone, taking her keys out of her bag.

"Oh no, Lizzy! How're you going to get away from them?!" Anna asked, worry in her voice evident.

"I…don't know yet. But, first priority is to get Lizzy safe. Hopefully I'll be back soon… You might wanna watch out too, I didn't even think before involving you…" Mo bit her lip, feeling guilty that now two friends of hers were likely targets.

"Oh lovely, now I have to worry about Roxas coming after me in my sleep." Anna's instinctive sarcasm made Mo laugh a little, lightening a bit of the stress on her shoulders, and she waved to her British friend.

"Just watch out, okay?" she insisted, before walking out of her room in a hurry and rushing out to her car. She managed to get in and start it before she noticed the familiar redheaded cloaked figure standing in the middle of the street.

"Well, that was timed perfect." Mo mumbled to herself as she threw the gearshift into reverse. Backing up a little too fast, the Nobody warped away before the small vehicle could smash into him, reappearing in the street in front of it once the driver had turned the car to face the right direction. Irritated, Mo rolled down her window, yelling at him.

"You can either move outta my way or get run over, creep!" Axel wasn't fazed by her attitude, and stood there unmoving.

"'Fraid I can't do that; see, I have orders, and I can't risk letting you go now." he spoke far too evenly considering the circumstances, merely irritating the driver more.

"Have it your way, then!" Before the Nobody could try anything, she rolled up her window and shifted into drive, swallowing hard.

_ Sorry, Axel, but Lizzy's way too important for me to risk losing._ Taking a deep breath, she slammed her foot down onto the accelerator, nearly pushing it to the floor.

Lizzy gritted her teeth as she stared at her phone's screen. Mo was on her way, so everything would be okay, right? Aside from the fact that both of them were being hunted by powerful Nobodies that had magical powers that mere humans couldn't match, and she wasn't sure how much longer she'd be safe in a public park. Roxas wasn't dumb, she knew; he would probably soon find a way to clear the surrounding bystanders.

Of course, right as the thought cleared her mind, a sound reminiscent to the casting of spells in the Kingdom Hearts games caught her ears, and a nearby tree went up in flames. A gasp caught in her throat as she stood from the park bench, watching as the people around yelled and grabbed for their phones. It wasn't long before the surrounding people had cleared away from her after calling 9-1-1, the girl now at risk and out in the open. Lizzy quickly gathered her wits and tried making a run for it, but was cut off by a Thunder spell crashing into the ground mere feet from her. She raised her blue eyes to the source, seeing the stoic Nobody crouched on a high tree branch. Knowing there was no way she could escape him like this, she froze, trying to come up with some sort of plan.

"Going into a public place; smart, I'll give you that." Roxas jumped from the tree limb, landing securely on his feet with apparently no adverse effect. That merely reminded Lizzy of the fact that Nobodies were significantly harder to hurt than humans, so even if she were prepared to fight, it would nearly be impossible.

"Yeah, well, I'm not just smart. I'm pretty tough, too!" Lizzy bit her lip, trying to buy herself as much time as possible. Video game logic seemed to prevail in Roxas' case; there was always banter before a big fight. That seemed to be working in her advantage, at least for the moment.

"Really? Well, let's test that out!" Roxas' voice rose as he suddenly launched himself from the ground, running too fast for him to be human, charging at her with Keyblade at the ready. Not knowing what else to do, Lizzy held up both of her arms as a futile shield, awaiting the impact of the weapon.

However, she soon found that no pain came; in fact, the loud sound of a shotgun drew her senses about her and she lowered her arms, watching as Roxas stopped mid-step, falling over to the side and clutching his shoulder. His Kingdom Key skittered to the ground nearby, though Lizzy's attention was caught by the person that had fired the shotgun.

"Evan!" the girl gasped out, seeing her elder brother standing nearby the discarded Keyblade, his trusty shotgun aimed right at the blonde Nobody. Lizzy ran over, standing by her brother as Roxas seemed to be trying to figure out what hit him.

"Sheesh, you're lucky I got here in time! You guys lost me with all the weird roads you went down!" the elder boy remarked, not tearing his eyes from the target of his gun even for a moment.

"I totally owe you one, bro." Lizzy breathed a sigh of relief, a feeling as if she had been holding her breath for over an hour leaving her with it.

"Yeah, you do." Evan joked back at her, glancing away from his target with a slight smirk, and looking to his sister. However, the moment he wasn't watching was too long; when he returned his gaze to the Nobody he was gone from his place, as well as his Keyblade from in front of them. The boy looked up and raised his shotgun sideways, seeing the Nobody striking down at him from above. The metal of the Keyblade made a resounding clang as it connected with the barrel of the shotgun, Evan being strong enough to hold it in place despite the force displayed by the Keybearer. He pushed back, sending Roxas back to land on his feet, and turned the barrel back to point at the Nobody, shooting at his feet, and just barely missing, despite it being more of a warning shot.

"I don't know how long we can keep this up, Lizzy!"

Axel reacted in just enough time to vault himself over the small sports car and land back on solid pavement on the other side. The car screeched off behind him, leaving him literally in the dust its wheels kicked up.

"Tch," he clicked his tongue, narrowing his eyes in the car's direction, "so you wanna do this the hard way." In mere moments, he warped away from the spot he'd been standing, reappearing on the roof of a nearby building at an intersection. Watching the car, which was now at a moderate speed, pull up to said intersection, he crouched down to brace himself to jump, waiting for the perfect timing. All at once, he launched himself off the building, landing directly on the roof of the car, and immediately stabbed two of the points on his chakrams into the roof to use as a hold. It served him well that he did, as the driver quickly slammed on her brakes, which would have sent him flying had it not been for the chakrams.

_Not gonna shake me that easily, kid, _he thought, smirking a bit to himself as she started driving once more. He found himself holding tighter the longer his ride became, as her driving became more erratic. Luckily for her, they were on empty, smaller streets, which meant that she could drive as such and not put anyone else in danger. The circumstances also served in Axel's favor, as he didn't have to worry about being noticed by any humans that just so happened to be driving by.

Axel was able to hold on for a fair amount of time, until they finally reached Mo's desired destination. Once they reached the parking lot there, Axel found himself being thrown forwards, his chakrams having wedged themselves out of the pierced metal of the car. The Nobody flew off the roof of the car, over the hood, and crashed into another hooded figure that had been perfectly lined up with him. As the two crashed to the ground, the other two standing there looked over to the car.

"Nice shot!" Evan laughed, and was sent a thumbs-up from the redheaded driver. The siblings quickly realized this was a good opportunity to get away, and darted towards Mo's car. Lizzy climbed in first, jumping into the backseat, and Evan stayed in the front passenger seat, shotgun ready in case they were pursued.

"Oh, _lord,_ you have no idea how happy I am to see you, Mo." Lizzy exclaimed from the back, hugging her around the seat.

"Same to you! I was afraid that crazy kid was gonna kill you! Lucky your brother was there, eh?" Mo smiled back to her younger friend, then to Evan, and threw the car into reverse.

"Let's just worry about getting as much distance between us and them before we talk!" Evan insisted, and Mo backed away from the recovering Nobodies before driving off as fast as she could manage while keeping control of the machine.

"Tch, they're either luckier than we expected…or possibly more skilled." Axel mumbled as he helped the Keybearer up, who still had a bullet buried in his shoulder.

"Yeah, something like that. We'll catch up to them…once I get this thing out of my shoulder." he sucked in a sharp breath, grabbing at his right arm again. Even in the other worlds, he'd never been hit by something like that! Axel didn't seem to know about it either, since he was clueless on how to extract the little metal piece from Roxas safely.

"Yeah, let's briefly RTC. Once we get that taken care of by Vexen, we'll come right back." Axel nodded to the shorter Nobody before opening a Dark Corridor up a couple feet from them.


	5. Chapter IV

The three panicked humans soon found themselves right back where their whole mess had started; the mall. However, it was good for them, as they were in a crowded public place where the Nobodies had a slim chance of even finding them, much less making a move.

"I think this is the only time I wasn't happy to be at the mall." Lizzy remarked, wrinkling her nose slightly.

"Oh man, now that I'm involved in this, they're gonna be coming after me too, aren't they?" Evan interjected, the thought just hitting him. Mo couldn't help but laugh a little, nodding.

"Yeah, but hey, you saved your sister's life. That's worth it, right?" she tried to reassure the boy, smiling over at him.

"Yeah…I guess." Evan hesitated, not seeming convinced, only to receive an elbow in his ribs from his sister.

"Hey!"

"Okay, okay, you two. Cool your jets, save the hostility for those Nobodies. We can't stay here forever, so we better come up with some kinda plan." Mo shook her head, trying to steer the conversation to more productive matters.

Lizzy lowered her head at the thought, not wanting to confront the situation in her mind. She'd never thought she'd be caught up in something so huge, and that if she was, it would be this scary. How did Sora do it, go around fighting weird creatures and still smile about it at the young age of 13?

The dreary air surrounding the three was suddenly pierced by a cheerful voice calling out to them from across the walkway.

"Mo! Lizzy! Evan!" All three looked up, trying to find the source of the voice, until they all spotted their friend Kitty standing there, waving at them.

"Kitty!" Mo stood from the bench, running over to her friend. Seeing the tanned blonde reminded her of back when she was younger, and the two of them had fantasized about the characters from Kingdom Hearts coming alive in the real world somehow, or them going into the world of those characters. Mo had never imagined it would really happen, much less be so scary.

"Well how're y'all doing? And what was with those sad faces a minute ago? Usually when you guys are together you can't get a smile off your faces!" Kitty pointed out, seeming shocked. Mo forced a laugh, not sure exactly how to explain their situation. Of course, she knew that Kitty of all people would believe her; she had always been the one to say "you never know!" when Mo would insist that things they fantasized about were impossible. The redhead took a deep breath as Lizzy and Evan joined them, trying to collect her thoughts.

"Well, its…kind of a long story… A lot has happened. You busy?" Mo gave a nervous smile, and Kitty nodded, her own smile returning to its place.

"I've got time! Tell away!"

Approximately an hour and numerous questions and explanations later, Kitty was caught up on the complicated situation. For a moment, the girl sat there, baffled, taking it all in, before she spoke up, directing her question at Mo.

"Wait. So, even after all we learned about these guys, you still ran?" The question caught Mo by surprise, and reared a batch of memories that hadn't come to mind since the start of their predicament. Mo remembered that she and Kitty had at one time devised a plan in case they, by some miracle, ever did meet the Organization before Sora got to them. It seemed silly at the time, but now that Mo recalled it, it made perfect sense to carry said plan out now! She smacked her palm to her forehead, holding her hand there for a moment as Kitty slowly started to grin.

"I can't believe I didn't remember our plan earlier… I just panicked 'cause Lizzy was involved…" Mo finally mumbled, Kitty barely catching the redhead's words.

"Mo! This is totally the biggest chance ever! You can carry out that plan for both of us, and save the Organization! From both Sora and Xemnas!" Kitty beamed, more excited than scared, unlike the two siblings to her side.

"Yeah, I could! Oh, man, now I feel stupid for running from them!" Mo whined, upset with herself. She and Kitty had always talked about telling the members of the Organization about their fate and trying their best to help them change it, given that they get the Nobodies to listen to them. Since their episode with Axel and Roxas earlier, that seemed farther from their reach than Mo liked to think.

"Wait," Evan interjected, not knowing very much about the series, "isn't Xemnas that group's leader or something? What'd he do to them?"

Mo smiled a bit to herself, having the opportunity to show off her own knowledge, Lizzy rolling her eyes a bit as she could foresee the incoming explanation.

"Okay, stay with me here. Xemnas never had any intention of helping the Organization get their hearts. He in fact cut them off from a chance to regain their hearts, by drawing all the hearts freed from the Heartless into his fake Kingdom Hearts. See, when a heart is freed from a Heartless, it has a chance of finding its original body again if it returns to the darkness. So, Xemnas was effectively contradicting what he promised the members, and depriving millions of Nobodies of ever finding their hearts."

Mo hesitated for a moment as she finished the first part of the explanation, and Lizzy noted the puzzled look on her face and returned it. Noticing it, Mo laughed a bit, embarassed she'd been caught.

"Well, there's more to it, but you two don't know about it 'cause it's in the new game, and Anna and I found out when she beat it… But I guess game spoilers aren't as important right now," Mo mentally slapped herself for worrying about something as insignificant as that, and continued.

"Well, new information in Dream Drop showed that hearts actually regenerate, I guess you'd say, if left for long enough. That's why ones like Axel, Naminé, and the others seemed to have a heart sometimes; they were getting it back slowly. But Xemnas didn't want that. It was Xehanort's plan from the start to gather 13 shells in order to infuse them with fragments of his own heart, and create the Thirteen Seekers of Dark to fuse with the Seven Lights and recreate the X-Blade. That's what Organization XIII was supposed to be."

Mo looked back over to her friends, catching her breath after explaining all of that. All of them had bewildered looks on their faces from the new information, Kitty especially being particularly expressive naturally.

"…Xehanort, Xemnas, whatever, was gonna make the Organization _clones_ of him?! Axel, Roxas, everyone!?" Kitty exclaimed in disbelief, especially affected since she knew that the beloved characters were, in fact, real.

"Yep," Mo nodded with a sigh, "they were all gonna be 'vessels' like Terra was to him… It's really sad isn't it?"

Lizzy nodded, not impressed by the idea that Roxas and the others were intended to be clones of Xehanort, and frowned, "We really do need to help them… But how?"

"Well, it would take getting Mr. Hothead and Key-Happy the Kid to listen to us, but if we can accomplish that, we have a fighting chance." Mo nodded, Kitty agreeing with her.

"That sounds pretty easy. I think." Evan nodded back at them, and Lizzy took a deep breath.

"Let's just hope we can get them to stop trying to kill us long enough to listen to what we need to say."

However, none of the young ones there had noticed that there were two cloaked figures, hoods up, that had been lurking within earshot, and had heard every word of their conversation.

A gloved hand connected roughly with a brick wall in frustration, with enough force to effectively crack the brick beneath it, the redheaded Nobody attached to it unfazed by the pain.

"Axel, calm down… We don't even know if what they said was true. They could be way off!" Roxas protested, trying to calm his friend's rage.

Axel gritted his teeth, not even looking at the blonde Nobody by him, "I'd agree, but it makes so much sense… I'd see one of us suddenly get emotional, and think 'oh, they're just acting, like Xemnas said'. But it was really their hearts coming back! And Xemnas-no, this Xehanort guy-wants to take that away?! Bad enough losing your heart once, but being made to become someone else…!"

Roxas averted his gaze, trying to collect his thoughts and find something to say to comfort Number VIII, but he spoke again before the younger Nobody was able to.

"Before I even joined, I knew they were up to something. I just didn't know it was this bad! …So what should we do, Roxas…? Go bad? Get them to tell us how to stop him? Or do what we're told, get rid of them and try and take care of this ourselves?"

"I…" Roxas hesitated, still unable to really fathom all of the information he'd just taken in as well as Axel, "I think that…maybe if we can get them back to the Castle…we could get them to help, or something. Like, tell us what to do and guide us as it happens?"

Axel thought it over for a moment, straightening up and removing his fist from the wall before him, "We'd have to pretend we caught them like we were ordered. Get 'em to play along and all, just to keep Xemnas out of our hair." He brushed the dust and dirt mix on his mildly sore knuckles off, taking the few steps to stand by the shorter blonde.

"Yeah, I think we could do this!" Roxas managed a smile, though he could see the uneasiness on Axel's face, reaching up to pat his shoulder.

"Don't worry, Axel, we can't screw this up! With how much they know, it should be a breeze!"

Axel seemed more reassured by that, nodding to the lower-ranked Nobody with a smirk crossing his face. Holding a hand out behind him, a dark corridor opened to allow them both through.

"Yeah. Let's get on with this, then."

The mall closed at 9 P.M., the stragglers retreating into the parking lot to get their cars and leave the large area. Three remained, however, staying by the cars that had brought them, waiting. Kitty had gone home already, as she had a husband, house, and pets that she couldn't just up and leave, even for an adventure such as the three anticipated was coming.

"Man, I hope we can pull this off. It's nothing like the game, you know, we don't have an HP bar; if they get in a good hit we could probably die!" Lizzy huffed, unsure of the whole 'plan' they had devised.

"Oh, chill out," Mo sighed, "once they know how much we know about them, they'll know we're too valuable to kill." She smiled to the younger girl in a reassuring manner, but had been hiding her own doubts about their situation in the back of her mind.

" Heck, the only thing I'm worried about is that Mom and Dad are probably panicking right now." Evan brought up, leaning on the back of the SUV that he had driven there. The boy only had a learner's permit, but he had grasped driving well enough by now that he was able to drive as if he had a license. It helped that he looked a good deal older than he was, as well; the police wouldn't expect him to be as young as he was.

"Yeah, I wonder if Mom's sent out a search party or something." Lizzy's sarcasm returned to her voice, a snicker following her words at the thought of such a thing.

"I wouldn't doubt it, knowing them. Not like she saw you get chased away by some crazy giant-key-swinging kid." Evan pointed out, smiling at the thought as well.

"Well, if my phone was alive, I'd come up with some excuse and tell all of our parents it…but it died earlier." Mo sighed, mentally scolding herself for not charging it earlier. She scanned the area through the lenses of her glasses, trying to catch sight of the Nobodies. They'd been standing out there for a good while, so where were Roxas and Axel? For the first time since the incident began, she wished that Roxas and Axel _were_ still chasing them.

They didn't need to wait long, luckily; only a few minutes passed before Roxas and Axel appeared a short distance away from them, oddly not appearing to be hostile like before. Lizzy instinctively shrunk back behind her two older companions, who put their guards up, only to be surprised at the Nobodies' calm approach, weapons nowhere to be seen.

Axel was the first to speak, coming to a stop a few steps away from them, "So, we know you want to help us."

Mo was taken aback at first, but collected her wits, folding her arms in front of her and dropping her guard, "So, you heard us. What changed your minds so quickly? You believe me that easily…?"

"It made sense," Roxas chimed in, almost before the redheaded girl finished speaking, "the hearts, Xemnas, everything. Well, except that Xehanort guy, we don't know who he is…but he sounds nasty." The young Nobody clenched his jaw tightly as he finished speaking, still having a hard time accepting all of this.

Mo nodded, thinking it over, before Axel spoke up again, "What we wanna know is how to stop all this. Something tells me you know…"

"Well…" Mo sighed, leaning back against her car once more, "the only surefire way I know to get Xemnas off your case is to break his fake Kingdom Hearts. Xehanort, though…is a whole 'nother story… it seems impossible to get rid of that crazy guy. But, if we can manage to save you two and the other members of the Organization from becoming his vessels…that's enough for me."

"And to do that, we need to take out Xemnas. Right?" Roxas questioned, assuming from what he'd been told."

"It's the most logical way of doing things, yeah. And the best way to do that is getting rid of his power source, the Kingdom Hearts he's building from the freed hearts. …I don't know how far along he is with it yet, but if we can stop him before it's done, it'll be easier to get rid of him. I think the Keyblade could probably free the hearts, but…I'm not 100%..." Mo's voice trailed along with her thoughts, wishing that the company that made the Kingdom Hearts franchise would have been open about such matters. They obviously never thought anything like their creations coming alive would ever happen…

Roxas nodded, remembering the heart-shaped moon that hung outside of the castle's windows. He wondered if he and his Keyblade could do what she was insinuating? Axel seemed to be thinking along the same lines, as he looked over to his blonde friend before nodding back to Mo.

"So, Roxas suggested this earlier; getting everyone on our side against Xemnas would probably help big time, right?" Axel raised an eyebrow slightly, folding his arms. He wanted to see if the apparent genius had anything to say about doing that.

Mo nodded back, smiling again at the thought, "Actually, yeah, that would help a lot. I know who to talk to first, anyway. Xion is a priority; I'm assuming she hasn't even opened up yet, so we need to get her fast. Marluxia and Larxene are already ready to turn traitor, so they'll be easier to convince. And Demyx and Naminé should be a piece of cake when it comes to getting them on our side. …From there though, it gets hard."

Axel and Roxas both seemed impressed, and looked over at each other before back to the humans in front of them.

"Sounds like a good way to start. Y'know though, for this to work, Xemnas has to think we captured you. So you gotta play along." Axel reminded them, to which all of them nodded.

"Yep, we know. We'll stick to the story that we didn't come along willingly. …Hm, I do have a favor to ask, though." Mo smirked a little to herself, plotting something.

"Mo, what're you planning…?" Lizzy narrowed her eyes a bit, curious but suspicious at the same time.

"You'll see," Mo spoke in a singsong voice for a moment, then reverted to normal, "Axel, those corridors you use go _anywhere_, right?"

Axel cocked a brow his fellow redhead, then nodded, "Yeah, basically."

"Awesome. You see, there's someone else that I may have told about this little incident…"

Anna paced back and forth through her room, worried sick over her two friends over the ocean from her. She couldn't stop worrying that something terrible could have happened to them! But it wasn't like she could go and check on them, as she was such a long distance away, and she didn't know where they did live if she _did_ manage to get across the ocean between them…

_Okay, Anna, they'll be fine. It's Roxas after all, he wouldn't kill them or anything…would he?_ Anna tried to reassure herself, but to no avail. _I've got to stop worrying, either way, or I'll bring an asthma attack on myself!_

Stopping her nervous pace, she took a few deep breaths in an attempt to both ward off her asthma and calm herself down, though the sudden appearance of a swirling black vortex against her wall did little to help. She let out a squeaky yell, freezing in place like a deer in headlights. Staring for a moment, expecting someone to come out of it, she stepped closer, wondering why nobody exited as they normally do.

Suddenly however, she felt a pair of hands on her shoulders, and was shoved into the corridor before she could react.

Hitting the pale ground on the other side of said vortex with a slight grunt, Anna scrambled to her feet in a panic before looking up to see the grinning faces of Mo and Lizzy. Swearing her heart nearly stopped for a moment, she just stared, wide-eyed, before being almost tackled to the ground by the sudden embraces of both of the girls in front of her.

"Anna!" they both squealed, the British girl struggling to process what had just happened as Roxas and Axel stepped out of the Corridor, the former holding Anna's inhaler in his gloved hand.

"This is what you meant, right? What _is_ it?" the boy questioned, looking over the foreign device. The two girls released Anna from the tight hug, allowing her to take the inhaler from the confused Nobody, and immediately using it as she nearly had an attack from the sheer shock of all of this. After coughing for a moment, she cleared her throat, looked around at the small group around her in the snow white hallway, and took a deep breath.

"...What in the world just happened?"

Mo laughed, shaking her head, "I know it's a bit of a shock, but we've actually managed to convince these two to let us help them. Anna, we can save the Organization! And well, so nobody would come after you, we had them bring you here. Sorry about the shock though, I told them not to scare you…"

"Oh yeah, sneaking up on me and shoving me into a black portal _isn't_ terrifying! Whose idea was that?!" Anna looked over to the Nobodies behind her, still finding it hard to accept that the _real_ Axel and Roxas were standing right behind her.

"Does it matter? Heh, you're here, right?" Axel smirked, the Corridor closing behind him.

"Yeah, besides, I know you'd have been upset if we went to the Castle That Never Was and had the chance to bring you and didn't!" Mo explained, grinning at the shorter girl.

"...Yeah, you're probably right. But really, give me some heads up next time!" Anna shook her head, still rather shaken up, but slowly calming down. Lizzy and Mo just laughed, glad that they were all together and safe…for now.


	6. Chapter V

Roxas and Axel now stood before Saïx, having just given their report and turned over the phone, with video, as evidence. Saïx was impressed, and commended them, giving them a slightly increased reward.

"Now go get some rest. I will put one of you in charge of interrogations tomorrow." Saïx ordered, then motioned for the two to leave. Both nodded and left the room nonchalantly, walking into the hallway before either of them spoke.

"So he totally bought it. Nice." Roxas smiled, voice coming out in a whisper.

Axel nodded back to him, though kept his eyes glued in front of them, "Yeah. He's the main one we have to worry about figuring us out aside from Xemnas himself."

"So we have to get Marluxia and Larxene with us first…if they even listen." Roxas mumbled the latter part of his sentence, doubting that either of the two would be very receptive of him telling them. Larxene never seemed to be in a good mood, especially around him, and Marluxia honestly creeped the younger Nobody out.

"Leave those two to me, Roxas," Axel interjected into his thoughts, "I know how to talk to XI and XII." Roxas seemed reassured at the redhead's statement, and nodded back to him, his uneasiness leaving him.

"Got it."

"Maybe I can hide out here until they get back. Nobody would look for me here! …Oh, wait…"

A familiar male Nobody's voice caught the ears of the three humans waiting in prison cells. Evan had stayed behind on Earth to cover the girls' tracks, also because he didn't know as much as the girls did. This left Lizzy, Mo, and Anna pretending to be locked in the dungeon cells, which all of them could easily slide between the bars of. The two older girls, hearing the Nocturne's voice as he walked down the hallway, both seemed to perk up, only making Lizzy roll her eyes at them.

An idea entering her head, the youngest blonde stood up and walked over to the bars, a smirk crossing her face as she plotted. Mo noticed this, narrowing her eyes at the friend she knew so well.

'Are you gonna do what I think you're gonna do?' Mo mouthed to the younger blonde, who merely nodded back with her mischievous grin and waved for the two others to back away from the bars. Mo rolled her eyes and stepped back, Anna following suit and trying to stifle a snicker. Lizzy stayed close to the bars, listening and watching as Demyx walked ever closer. He wasn't paying close attention as he walked past their cells, until Lizzy suddenly reached out through the bars and grabbed the taller young man's wrist. He froze for a moment, then jerked his arm away, letting out a yelp and making Lizzy let go.

The girl immediately burst into laughter, "Dude, that was _exactly_ what I imagined you'd do!"

"Hey! That wasn't cool!" the Nobody whined, folding his arms, before he recognized the blonde girl in front of him, "Woah, wait! You're one of the ones that got me and Larxene in trouble! So Axel and Roxas caught you!"

Lizzy huffed, mood suddenly suppressed from Demyx's cheerful tone, "Yeah, yeah, what do you expect, sending two of your strongest guys after two defenseless girls?"

"Hush, Lizzy. You know why we're really here." The sudden voice behind him made Demyx jump again and whirl around, then smile wider. He recognized the redhead that also contributed to his near death sentence, and though he didn't recognize the third girl, he figured she was probably in on the other two's schemes.

"Awesome, they got all of you! I'm home free!" he cheered, pumping a fist into the air and making Lizzy roll her eyes.

"Well, I dunno about home free. Demyx, you guys are all in trouble." the redhead's statement caught his attention and his cheerful farce dropped, hand falling back to his side.

"We're _all_ in trouble? What do you mean…?" he hesitated, and Mo couldn't help but notice that Demyx was, in fact, exactly as she imagined him, and had to force herself not to smile to preserve the serious nature of the conversation.

"It's a bit of a long story," Anna interjected, having already been explained the situation and what they had to do by Lizzy and Mo, "but you can't tell anyone else."

Demyx had to think it over, hesitating, "Wait, is it something that'll just get me in more trouble? 'Cause I'd _really_ rather not get turned into a Dusk because of you three."

"Well if you listen, you might never have to worry about getting turned into a Dusk by Xemnas ever again." Mo smirked a little, knowing that would win him over. Predictably, the Nobody suddenly brightened, nodding.

"Really? Tell me then!"

Mo cleared her throat, then went on to start explaining. She and Anna primarily switched between explaining, Lizzy jumping in every so often. They did, of course, take into consideration how they explained it; because of who they were talking to, they knew they didn't need all of the harsh details, and were able to be more delicate.

"Woah," Demyx breathed once the group finished their explanation, "that's heavy stuff. So that means you need my help, too?"

"Well, not so much _need_-"

Lizzy was cut off by Mo, "Yes, we _need_ your help. We know you're actually one of the strongest in the Organization when you put your mind to it. As long as you don't tell a soul about this, especially not Xemnas, Saïx, or Xigbar."

"Pfft, of _course_ I won't. What do I have to say to ol' X-face anyway? And Xigbar and me don't talk casually anyway." Demyx laughed, shaking his head. Satisfied with the answer, Anna and Mo nodded to each other, then to Lizzy.

"Good. Now, you might wanna get out of here before you get caught talking to us." Lizzy piped up, Demyx realizing this and nodding, backing away from the bars of the cell and waving.

"Right! See you guys later!" he grinned before warping away, leaving the three alone again.

A moment of relieved silence filled the cell block before Mo let out a sigh, "Well, that's one down, eleven more to go."


	7. Chapter VI

A night came and passed, the tensions of a select few Nobodies beginning to rise. They knew they carried a heavy burden, and while not dealing with crippling emotions that would put their actions in jeopardy, they still had to be extremely careful. Roxas reported to Saïx the next day, as per usual, and from his conversation with the Diviner found that he was not going to be the one to 'interrogate' their so-called prisoners.

He turned away from Saïx with the details of his mission in mind, only to see his redheaded friend walk into the Grey Area after him. He gave a wave, which the taller Nobody returned, and walked past him. Roxas, not looking away from the path in front of him, spoke in a hushed tone right as he passed Axel, so as to not draw attention.

"Looks like it's you."

Axel understood the hushed message, having been thinking about the same issue. He approached Saïx as Roxas made his way over to the Moogle, needing to restock on Ether after using his the day before.

Once he'd gotten everything he needed, he turned his head to see Axel standing nearby, a confused look on his face.

"I thought you said I was the one interrogating them."

The inquiry made a shiver run up Roxas' spine, as something he'd feared came to light.

"Wh-what? It wasn't me, and you didn't get assigned it either?" he questioned right back, baffled.

Another voice suddenly cut into their conversation, "You two talking about interrogating those girls? Saïx let me do it."

The two turned to see the smug face of the Savage Nymph, hands rested on her hips.

"You? You already messed up with them once." Axel was quick to fire back at her, only making the blonde woman laugh.

"Apparently, according to Saïx, this is my chance to redeem myself. Though I'm stuck with number IX again since he was with me before…" Only at that statement did Larxene's smirk fade into a disgruntled expression.

"Well, _that_ sure sounds fun. Better you than us, I say." Axel shrugged, smirking at her this time.

"You say that now, but I know I'll be able to get something out of those girls that you could never make them say." she smirked right back, the immediate switch of 'moods' making it all the more clear that she didn't have any true emotions of her own. The Nymph walked out of the room at that point, leaving a slightly worried Roxas.

"This can end one of two ways…" Roxas mumbled once she was out of earshot, only to have Axel pat his shoulder lightly.

"Chill out, Roxas, Demyx and those three can handle things. What could go wrong?"

"Ugh, Saïx is totally getting a kick out of torturing by teaming me with you again, isn't he?" Demyx groaned as he and number XII entered into the prison-like area, making sure to speak loudly enough so as to warn the three that they were coming.

"Believe me, I'd rather be paired with a talking _duck_ than with you." Larxene rolled her teal eyes, finally making it down to the cells of their captives.

"Well, well, look at you now. At least you can't do any more damage behind those bars." she smirked at the three girls as she stopped between their cells. Demyx moved to be between Lizzy's and Anna's, leaning on the small bit of wall between them.

"News flash, Larxy," Momo held back a snicker as she sidestepped between the bars with ease, only to step back in and look up at the taller female.

"W-wait, you can get out? Why haven't you tried?" Larxene was baffled by this apparent lack of logic, only to have Demyx speak up in the prisoners' behalf.

"I think they'd rather be in there than have to face some of the weirdoes we have here!" he laughed, grinning.

"Exactly," Mo smiled, concealing the real reason for now. She knew that Larxene wouldn't listen to any of them very easily.

"A wise decision on your part," the teasing tone returned to Larxene's voice, "you'd be dead if I was the one to catch you out of there."

Lizzy rolled her eyes while Larxene wasn't looking, Demyx having to stifle a laugh when he saw her.

"Well, anyway, I guess you guys are down here for a reason. What's up, Thunderhead?" Mo teased right back, toying with Larxene a bit though she knew her position in all of this.

Before Mo could protest or get and explanation, however, Larxene was suddenly in her cell, and put up an electric barrier in between the bars to prevent her from getting out, and the others from getting in.

"Let's do this interrogation right, shall we?" the blonde hissed, her malicious tone making Momo instinctively back away, "How much do you know about us?"

"Enough to get me in trouble, apparently." Mo let out a nervous laugh, afraid of what the Nymph might do to get answers out of her. Larxene wasn't so accepting of her lightheartedness, unfortunately.

"What're they saying?!" Lizzy was immediately outside of her own cell, unable to hear Momo and Larxene through the electric current wall.

"I-I dunno, and that barrier is basically soundproof! There's no _way_ I could get her to get rid of it even if I got through it, either…!" Demyx swallowed hard as Anna joined them in the hallway.

"Someone should get Axel or Roxas!" she insisted, though Demyx merely shook his head.

"They already left for their missions!" Demyx explained, appearing to be just as nervous as them.

"Shoot! How do we get to them?!" Lizzy was nearing a panic, knowing that even the slightest touch to those bars could electrocute her.

Demyx looked around hesitantly, "I could get in there, but she wouldn't listen and me starting a fight would just drench the cell, and probably electrocute both of us! Water and electricity do _not_ mix."

Lizzy knew that was true, and was tempted to run out of there right that second and find someone to help them. However, that inner plea was answered suddenly when a fairly familiar voice cut in.

"Allow me."

The three looked up to see the pink-haired Graceful Assassin of the Organization, Marluxia, who was arguably closest to the blonde interrogating Momo.

"Marluxia? What-" Demyx started, only to have Marluxia stop him.

"Axel explained the situation earlier this morning. When I heard that you two were in charge of interrogation duty, I thought I might be needed to intervene. It appears I was right…"

Demyx nodded, understanding, and Marluxia warped past the barrier and into the cell.

Larxene's head snapped to the side as she heard the sound of warping into the cell, instinct taking over as she immediately threw three of her knives at the intruder, only to gasp lightly when she saw who it was.

"Marluxia…" she spoke in a hushed tone suddenly, confused. The Assassin dropped the knife he had caught between his index and middle finger, the other two of which had missed entirely and embedded themselves in the pale wall behind him.

Mo didn't know whether to be comforted by Marluxia's presence or not, she knew both of the two present to be violence-prone traitors, and yet Marluxia _had_ stopped the barrage of questions the Nymph had been throwing at her.

As if he could read her mind, Marluxia spoke up as he turned his head to the redhead, "Don't be afraid, little one, I know. Axel already approached me."

A wave of relief washed over her immediately, and Larxene only appeared more confused.

"Know? Know what, Marluxia?" Her voice remained oddly calm while addressing Number XI, surprising the human who was more used to her rash nature.

"These captives are quite unique, but also indispensible, Larxene. They, like us, wish to ultimately rid the Organization of Xemnas." Larxene's eyes widened considerably at the statement, looking from her companion to Mo, then back again.

"Wh-what? What do you mean?! How could _they_...?" Larxene was in a state of utter disbelief, false emotions even seeming real at this point.

"They know things even we do not, yet. Xemnas never wished to grant the Organization their hearts back at all, instead to use them all of his own thirst for power."

Marluxia's words hit Larxene like several tons of weight. Despite supposedly not having the real emotions, the young woman could undeniably feel anger starting to bubble up in her.

"So that's how it is…" the woman hung her head, her voice dropping to a low monotone. Marluxia merely nodded, unfazed by how the Nymph may have been affected by his own blunt statements. After a few long moments of silence, Larxene raised her head once more, a cold stare meeting Marluxia's sapphire eyes.

"Then I guess we're not the only traitors anymore." Marluxia smirked at the blonde's words, nodding once more.

The Nymph turned to Mo at that, sending her a warning glare, though it seemed more cold, more emotionless than normal.

"If I find out you're tricking us, I'll personally fry you." Momo only smiled, rather glad that Larxene regained her normal attitude, and nodded back at her. The barrier faded as Larxene stopped expending the energy to hold it there, the stunned three on the other side curious of what went on in there. Much to their dismay, Marluxia merely stepped from between the bars and left the room, silently.

"Wow, Marluxia just got cooler in my book." Lizzy commented, breaking the awkward silence that had hung over them. Larxene, ignoring that, exited the cell and looked to Mo once more.

"Well, you seem to know the most, so give me a story to feed to Saïx."

Mo had to think for a moment or so, glancing to Lizzy and Anna for help but to no avail, before she finally fabricated something.

"Just tell him that we know the future, and that Castle Oblivion will be a complete failure in his purposes. That'll be all he needs to think we're valuable enough to keep around." Larxene nodded, and turned back to Demyx.

"Alright, let's get outta here before I get dragged into anything else." she groaned, and Demyx nodded, waving to his human friends before following the Nymph down the corridor and away from them.

Once they were gone, Mo slipped between her cell's bars to join her two friends in the hallway, breathing a heavy sigh of relief.

"Well, that was actually easier than I expected."

******AN: I was a bit worried with this one, because I'm not 100% sure I got Larxene and Marluxia in character...if you think I didn't, message me and tell me how to fix this, please? **


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